


In the cold. In the dark.

by MLauren



Series: Double Double, ElsaMaren's In Trouble (Halloween One-Shots) [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Halloween, One Shot, elsamaren, juvenile horror, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27112543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MLauren/pseuds/MLauren
Summary: Honeymaren is haunted by childhood folktales. | ElsaMaren | T Rated | Halloween One-Shot |
Relationships: Elsa & Honeymaren (Disney), Elsa/Honeymaren (Disney)
Series: Double Double, ElsaMaren's In Trouble (Halloween One-Shots) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978939
Comments: 11
Kudos: 25





	In the cold. In the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been writing a few, fast-paced Autumn one-shots- all quickly and very briefly edited... Some are creepy. Some are sweet. Some are a bit of both. There's no real method to my madness, so enjoy them while they last.  
> -M.

_**In the cold. In the dark.** _

M. Lauren

* * *

In the short few minutes that had passed since midnight, the wind began to change. Gale, tired after a day filled with mischief; she grew calm, falling into a slither along the forest floor. The trees silenced their whispers. A thick chill settled over Northuldra, and the temperature further dropped. The villagers, tucked into their homes, burrowed deeper into their linens.

Autumn had arrived in full force.

_In like a lion_ , they said, and it was true. 

During the night, Children curled into their siblings. Their parents brought out the thick winter furs. A short pace away from the others, Honeymaren had done the same. 

Her wide brown eyes peered up at the ceiling as she lifted the fur closer to her chin. The chill deep in her bones would not subside. It lingered there, anxiously turning her mind away from sleep. She usually loved this time of year. When the leaves began to change and the days grew shorter. She was always reminded of the time, not that long ago, when Queen Elsa of Arendelle came to free the forest. 

On this night, however, she did not think of shorter days. She was not grateful for the final harvests. Cold like this swept Honeymaren back into the stories told to her when she was young. Seated around a fire with the other children, the elders regaled them with tales of the mysterious spirits. These tales had not been meant to scare her. In fact, those stories had been passed down from generation to generation as a way of preserving their culture during the time when her people were forced further North. Those stories were to be celebrated. They were cherished.

Though they had frightened her.

As a young, imaginative child, Honeymaren remembered nights quite like this one. She’d wait for sleep. Cold and restless, she’d fear the fierce wind spirit would rip her from her home. She’d panic thinking of the deadly guardian sent to watch over the Dark Sea, and of course there were the Earth and Fire Spirits. Dangerous and vengeful was nature’s magic, but as it turned out- the spirits were not to be feared after all. 

She knew this now, of course, but nostalgia was a fickle thing. The spirits were there to protect the forest. They were to be celebrated and cherished, just as the stories had said, but as with some late nights; Honeymaren still imagined she was trapped inside her home as fields of fire and stone giants surrounded her. 

And not to be forgotten, was the mist... 

Thick and gray, it gated all of Northuldra away from the rest of the world. There were stories about that, too. Stories about how kings and queens would come to take over their land. So while Honeymaren feared a life trapped by the mist, she also worried what would happen should it leave them. 

She was getting herself worked up. It was late. This particular night was cold and especially dark under the new moon. Reality had disproved Honeymaren’s trepidations. The spirits were good. Elsa was here to align them, and Arendelle, under Anna’s command, was not a concern to carry. 

The shadows growing over her walls, created by the far off fire light, teased of otherwise... 

A slight orange hue illuminated the tarp. It caused the rest of room around her to grow darker. Her feet were swallowed into the shadows. Each corner of her home was lost in the fading light. The flames beyond the goahti began to dissipate, and Honeymaren, alone at the base of the hill, was separated from the rest of the camp. 

In the dark. In the night, secluded in the growing cold, Honeymaren curled onto her side. She pulled the furs higher, cocooning her head into their warmth. Her eyes remained wide as she watched the fire fade completely. 

As it did, off in the distance the earth began to grumble. One steady bump... and then another. The noises grew closer and louder, and then Honeymaren could feel it beneath her. Her back vibrated under the might of each quake. The walls of her home shook with each tremble. Her heart raced in time with the movements, and Honeymaren clenched her arms tight around her legs. 

Then as suddenly as it started, the quaking stopped. The walls ceased their shudders.

Honeymaren had made it up in her head. Her imagination was spiralling. She conjured the monsters she believed existed when she was a child, and now they were coming back to haunt her. With a small laugh, Honeymaren released her legs and turned back onto her other side. 

Facing the wall, she took a deep breath to calm her erratic heart. Her eyelids grew heavy, and sleep was creeping closer. 

_"Finally,"_ she breathed, when off in the distance, a magenta light flickered to life.

It started small. Like a candle, it wavered like a spec in the forest. It wavered from one tree to another, dancing in the darkness. The light danced from branch to branch, tree to tree, until the forest was suddenly set ablaze.

A wall of fire surrounded her tent. She could feel the heat as it rose up around her. Fierce, but beautiful, it crept toward her with vengeance.

Honeymaren quickly sprang back. The world around her faded.

She was alone in the dark; in the cold... 

There was no fire, no heat. There was no magenta light, nor anything to fear at all. In her fatigued state she’d conjured up yet another mirage. Her childhood stories taunted back into reality, but they were a mere figment of her imagination. 

Filled with annoyance, Honeymaren sat up. The furs dropped down to her waist. She soothed a hand over her head and turned her feet onto the floor. The chill of Autumn surrounded her all at once.

Her bare arms began to prickle with goosebumps. Cold shot up her spine, pulling it painfully straight.

Honeymaren stood from her cot and hurried to dress into her warmer clothes. 

Before leaving her home, she pulled on her boots. She draped her red shall over her shoulders and headed down to the ravine. Under the cover of night, she walked along the river.

The stars were lost beneath a blanket of gray clouds. The trees, the long miles of forest; everything around Honeymaren was taken by the shadows. It was dark and it was cold, but the walking seemed to ease her mind. 

As she walked, Honeymaren forced the stories from thought. She remembered where in the timeline they were; she remembered all that had happened to her, and how wonderful her life was now as an adult. She thought of Elsa. She thought of playful Bruni and Gale. Honeymaren walked, chanting her blessings on a loop until they eased her heart completely.

She walked until she found the Dark Sea.

Its chilling waters acted as another barrier she couldn’t cross, and so she stopped to admire its vastness. Her toes pointed, daring out toward the shadows of mighty waves. They appeared to swallow the horizon with each rise, fall, and crash against the rocks.

That’s when the wind trickled in. 

Gale started over her shoulder before moving out to sea. Honeymaren’s messy curls tried to follow. They scattered and tangled in the wind. She shivered, surrounded by the cool breeze, and watched Gale disappear beyond the arctic mountains. 

The waves and wind weren't the only force moving the rocky shore. It had started subtle, but now Honeymaren recognized the familiar tremble.   
  
Boom. 

Boom. 

_Crash..._

Above her head, along the cliffs, trees fell one by one in the distant forest. Each pebble beneath her feet rattled and clanked together. The shoreline appeared to move closer toward the sea, disappearing beneath dark water. Like gravity, they fought to take Honeymaren with them. The rocks sucked nearer to the waves.

As the quakes grew closer and louder, the more powerful the movements became.

Honeymaren stumbled away from the waves. She tripping over the rocks as she scrambled to safety. She forced her back into the cliff and held onto the ledge with clenched hands. 

Heat started beneath her palms. It sizzled along her spine. Honeymaren spun, shocked to see the cliffs and hillside behind her entirely engulfed in flames. 

The fire forced her forward and quaking rocks sucked her in. First her toes and then her knees.

The dark sea dragged her in... like a magnet to the waves... 

She had nowhere to go; nowhere to run to. As the fire surged from behind, the undertow latched onto her feet. She was trapped. She was stuck. The nokk would soon come to drown her. 

"Honeymaren," she heard. 

The water was at her waist now, but even as she whipped her head in every which direction, she couldn't see where the voice was coming from. Water surrounded her.

"Maren," it came again. 

A single wave crashed against her shoulders. Honeymaren lost her footing. She was swimming now; treading water. 

"Maren, enough!" 

Something firm latched onto her ankle. She was being dragged under. Honeymaren flailed, desperate to stay afloat. 

But something caught her hands. They were pinned above her head. She couldn't swim.

"Honeymaren!"

Her eyes blinked open. 

There was no water, no waves, and no fire. See could see nothing beyond the two blue eyes looking down at her. 

It was Elsa, and she was worried. Her brow was pinched and her whole face laced with concern. 

"Hey, are you alright?" 

Honeymaren sat up. She was safe in her home. In the cold. In the dark. It had all been a dream; the fire, the earthquakes. She'd made it all up as she slept. 

"I'm okay," she breathed. "I'm alright..."

"Looks to me like you were having a nightmare." Elsa pulled back, giving her space. 

"-more like a night terror! It felt so real... I thought- I thought I was running from something..." 

Pouting, Elsa's head turned to the side. "Running from what?" she asked. 

"The spirits, I think... Well... some made up version of them. I conjured it up as a kid. I haven't seen them like that in years," she explained. 

Elsa's expression continued to deepen, "You were afraid of the spirits?"

"I didn't know them," Honeymaren began. "Aside from the rock giants and Bruni, which kept us confined to the camp; I didn't know them, and so I didn't know what to think..."

"And what did you think of me?" Elsa continued, her voice dry. 

"I didn't know anything about you... I had never heard of Queen Elsa before."

"Not me from Arendelle, but me, the fifth spirit. What did you think of her? What did you expect me to become?"

Honeymaren blinked, her eyes growing wide. "I guess I never thought about that..."

"You're lying to me," Elsa stated sternly. "What did you think about the fifth spirit?"

Drawing in a sharp breath, Honeymaren turned down to the furs. "I thought the fifth spirit would be powerful... just like the others..."

"So, you feared me, too? You thought I'd come to hurt you and the village?"

"No, I- what are you saying? Of course not!"

Elsa stood from Honeymaren's cot. Her fingers clenched into fists at her side. "You were right to fear me." Elsa smiled. 

Ice began to creak across the dark floor. Power erupted from Elsa's hands. 

"My magic is unstable. It's dangerous. You should be afraid."

Honeymaren drew back further on her cot. "Elsa...?"

Elsa's arms raised. Her hands braced between them. "Are you afraid, Honeymaren?"

She didn't respond. None of this made sense. 

"I'm, I-" Honeymaren stopped. 

"You should be."

A ball of fierce magic exploded in front of her. The room filled with a flurry and everything around them froze. Honeymaren was cold. She was afraid. She was blinded by magic and surrounded by ice and snow.

When the air settled, though, Elsa had disappeared entirely. Not even her terror of ice had lingered.

Honeymaren was alone again; in the cold, in the dark. 

Everything was as it had been; her belongings, the chilly Autumn night. Honeymaren was safe. She was alone. 

Something moved on the cot beside her.

Frightened, Honeymaren scrambled away. She pulled the furs with her into a heap on the floor. 

"Honeymaren, what the- what are you doing?" 

Honeymaren looked up as Elsa came to the edge of the cot.

"Elsa...?" she questioned. Honeymaren dropped the fur and crawled backwards. 

"Why are you on the floor?" Elsa frowned. 

"I- is this a dream?"

Giggling, Elsa shook her head, "I should hope not."

"What are you- the fire, the ice, the earthquakes? What happened?"

Elsa leaned down to her, reaching for Honeymaren with her hand. "I told you not to eat chocolate before bed, silly..."

Skeptical, Honeymaren hesitated before accepting the gesture. "I was stuck in a nightmare," she explained. "One right after another. They felt so real, but you weren't you. You were something else, and the spirits... they weren't themselves either..."

"Well, I'm here now, and I'm as real as I get." Elsa tugged Honeymaren onto the cot. "I'll even prove it."

She kissed her. Elsa's arms wrapped around her shoulder and she pulled Honeymaren down beside her. 

"This better be real," Honeymaren mumbled against her lips. 

"Somehow I can't foresee this being a nightmare," Elsa teased. She kissed her again before pulling away to hide a yawn in her hand. 

"You're tired," Honeymaren pouted. "I'm sorry I woke you..."

Shaking her head, Elsa turned, resting her head on Honeymaren's shoulder. "It's fine, so long as you think you can go back to sleep now."

"-and if the dreams come back?"

Elsa laughed softly, "Then I'll be right here to make them go away again."

Honeymaren sighed. She pulled her arms tight around Elsa. "You promise?"

"I promise," she kissed the underside of Honeymaren's jaw. "There will be no more nightmares on my watch."

Smiling, Honeymaren buried her nose into Elsa's hair. With Elsa at her side, Honeymaren's fears would never win. 

* * *

_Cheers,_  
_M._

**Author's Note:**

> Day Two (Hint): Brrr... Shhh...


End file.
